Calcium Associated With Lower Risk of Prostate Cancer

Particularly in black men; associated with lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer in all men

THURSDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Dietary calcium intake is inversely associated with prostate cancer risk, according to a study published online Jan. 12 in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Preventing Chronic Disease.

Christina D. Williams, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center in North Carolina, and colleagues investigated the association between calcium intake and prostate cancer risk. Data from a case-control study involving 108 men with biopsy-positive prostate cancer, 161 men with negative biopsy results for prostate cancer, and 237 healthy men were evaluated. Dietary calcium intake was assessed using the Harvard food frequency questionnaire. Cancer grade was established as low-grade (Gleason score <7) or high-grade (Gleason score ≥7).

The researchers observed an inverse association between calcium intake from food and prostate cancer risk when comparing cases and biopsy-negative controls (P = 0.05) and cases and healthy controls (P = 0.02). In analyses of healthy controls, for black men, total calcium was also associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer. Finally, men in the highest tertile of calcium intake from food had a lower risk for high-grade cancer when comparing high-grade cases with biopsy-negative controls (odds ratio [OR], 0.37) or with healthy controls (OR, 0.38).

"Our findings suggest that, among men with diets that have moderate to low calcium intake, adequate calcium intake may reduce the risk for prostate cancer, particularly among black men, and reduce the risk for high-grade prostate cancer among all men," the authors write.